Rebirth of Gruntijackal
Rebirth of Gruntijackal is a storyline saga that was created by RoachTheIntelCollector on March 8th, 2018. It is the eighth storyline saga of the Roach Chronicles. It is preceded by Day of the Departed and is succeeded by the Day of Judgment saga. Like most of Roach's previous works, it features five zombies maps. The story sees four survivors attempting to stop the newly-reformed Edward Richtofen that was once imprisoned in the Cursed Realm from resurrecting Gruntijackal and freeing him from the Fractured Realm. The saga serves the second part of the Gruntijackal Phase. Story The Beginning of the End Following the events of "Day of the Departed", the soul of Edward Richtofen managed to enter Willard Wyler's Zombies in Spaceland film, where the latter had hidden the Yin Blade in order to prevent the Fractured Realm from ever being opened again. Wyler would soon discover that this version of Richtofen was once imprisoned in the Cursed Realm, and was ultimately consumed by dark powers and schizophrenia, all of which was caused at some point by Gruntijackal as a failsafe plan. In order to stop Richtofen from obtaining the Yin Blade, Wyler creates clones of the four actors he once imprisoned and places them in the film, ordering them to stop Richtofen. Unfortunately for them, Richtofen is successful in his plan and uses the Yin Blade to open a rift to the outside world, to which he escapes to, restoring his mortality in the process. Richtofen soon confronts Wyler and kills him with the Yin Blade. As Wyler dies, Richtofen steals Wyler's Soul Jar and imprisons Wyler's soul within it. Armed with both the Yin Blade and the Soul Jar, Richtofen proceeds to use the Yin Blade to escape to another dimension. Lifelink Sometime later in the alternate dimension, Richtofen opens the Soul Jar and uses the Yin Blade to take control of most of the imprisoned souls. With the Yin Blade's powers, Richtofen turns the souls into his own personal zombie army, an army out of the control of anyone but him. Richtofen then notices a strange and unique soul in the Soul Jar, to which Richtofen begins to grin at. Richtofen's zombie army then attacks the city of Green Mountain near central Colorado as part of Richtofen's plan to find three survivors capable of combating his army for the later steps of his plan. As the city falls under siege, a man dressed in a black garb with a black mask and a red belt tied around their waist then approaches the city. Back in the city, Jacob Roberts, Daniela Knight, and Patrick West, three survivors of the attack, find themselves cornered in an alleyway. The masked man then appears and saves the three, ordering them to help fight through the zombies if they wished to survive and escape the city alive. While this happens, Richtofen enters the city. He soon finds the underground laboratory of Dr. Samuel Higgins, a scientist who had been researching both the powers and the location of the Omega Key, an artifact that is crucial in Richtofen's plan. Richtofen then proceeds to steal Higgins' research before he is confronted by Higgins himself. A struggle ensues, with it ending with Richtofen capturing Higgins in the Soul Jar. Richtofen then proceeds to contact someone with a radio, ordering them to move north to a set of coordinates. Meanwhile, the mysterious man leads the three to the city's airport, where they steal a private jet and use it to escape the city, bound for an unknown destination. Richtofen then watches the plane fly away as he chuckles to himself before using the Yin Blade to teleport away. The Omega Key After a day of flying and living on the plane, the mysterious man soon lands the plane at a hidden snowy outpost in the Torngat Mountains in Canada. The man then states he felt a "mysterious force" that was affecting the plane, saying that they must watch themselves. Soon enough, zombies appear, forcing the four to fight once again. Meanwhile, Richtofen arrives at the outpost. Richtofen then releases Higgins and holds him at swordpoint with the Yin Blade, ordering him to show him the location of the Omega Key. Higgins questions the purpose of the others, with Richtofen stating that they were "the bait". The group continues to fight before they gain access to the caverns that the base was built upon. Traversing the caverns and dodging traps, the four soon discover the Omega Key, which was floating in place on a pedestal. The mysterious man then grabs ahold of it as he then laughs. Richtofen then enters the room with Higgins still as his prisoner, congratulating the man on his success. The man then holds the other three at gunpoint before going over to Richtofen, who proceeds to shove Higgins towards the other three. The man then takes off his mask, revealing himself to be Xarcoh. Richtofen explains to the four that Xarcoh was the Soulless of Roach, a hero in another dimension, saying that he was surprised to discover that Xarcoh was able to develop a soul of his own prior to his destruction. Xarcoh then explains that he managed to find his way into Wyler's Soul Jar by traveling through the collapsing rift he was destroyed in, where he remained in order to preserve himself. Richtofen then continues, saying he found Xarcoh's soul in the Soul Jar and released him, tasking him with helping him in his ultimate plan. Higgins questions what his ultimate plan was, to which Richtofen replies to; it is to resurrect Gruntijackal and release him from his imprisonment in the Fractured Realm. Xarcoh then explains it was time for the four to get their hands dirty, using his powers to knock the four unconscious. Shaded Truths The four awaken in a cell at Richtofen's research lab at his safehouse in Brazil sometime later. There, Richtofen explains more details of his plans; since Gruntijackal's aether energies were depleted following the events of the Day of the Departed, Gruntijackal needed a new source for him to get unlimited power. To do this, Richtofen explained there was a reason he traveled to the dimension he did; this dimension had Samantha Maxis cyrogenically frozen in the MPD, which was still at the Moon. Richtofen explained that with the combined powers of Element 115, the Yin Blade, and the Soul Jar, Richtofen could forcefully create another Green Eclipse on the Moon, to which would allow Gruntijackal to escape his prison with the use of the Yin Blade. With the Soul Jar, he would preserve Gruntijackal's soul, which would then be preserved with the Omega Key, which can be inserted into the Soul Jar and transfer souls between the two. Richtofen would then insert the key into the MPD, allowing Gruntijackal to be reborn within Samantha's dormant body and give him full control over the Aether, making him unstoppable and all powerful. Richtofen then proceeds to raise their cage into a massive futuristic arena that he created with the dark magic of the Yin Blade. There, Richtofen explains they must kill enough zombies and find a way to unlock the exit if they are to survive, saying it was their final test and chance to be free. Unknown to the heroes, Richtofen didn't explain how he planned on opening the MPD; he would need plenty of souls, souls he would be able to retrieve with the help of the four survivors. As the survivors fought through the arena, the zombies they killed would have their souls preserved in the Soul Jar. After the four manage to hack into the arena's systems, they are able to escape after defeating Richtofen's massive Tiger Widow spider. Unfortunately, they witness Richtofen and Xarcoh escaping in a teleporter with all three of the items they need to bring upon the rebirth of Gruntijackal. The Rebirth Following the two, the group uses the teleporter to teleport to Griffin Station, which Richtofen had heavily modified and revamped. The group fight their way through the base, hacking into the base's defense systems and breaching the base's research laboratory and arms cache. Afterwards, the group manages to gain access to the outside area, where Richtofen had already begun the process of opening the Fractured Realm. The four attempt to stop Richtofen, but they are held back by Xarcoh. Richtofen proceeds to infuse Element 115 into the Yin Blade and begins to swing it around, forcefully creating a tear to the Fractured Realm and allowing the weakened soul of Gruntijackal to escape. Gruntijackal commends Richtofen and Xarcoh for the work they've done, saying it was time to be reborn. Using what little power he has, Gruntijackal teleports himself, Richtofen, and Xarcoh to the Chamber of Repose, the MPD's chamber. The four soon return into the base, where they are able to gain access to the Chamber of Repose themselves. However, they are too late; Richtofen had already deposited the collected souls, and infused Gruntijackal's soul into the Omega Key. Despite the four's pleas, Richtofen ignores them and inserts the Omega Key into the MPD's interface, allowing Gruntijackal's soul to enter the device and possess Samantha's body, ultimately allowing Gruntijackal to be reborn. As Gruntijackal announces his return, he proceeds to explain that he will soon remake the universe into his image before engaging the four in a final showdown. With Richtofen and Xarcoh's help, Gruntijackal would use his powers to fight since he was unable to leave the MPD without leaving Samantha's body. The four then battle Gruntijackal and the MPD's defenses before destroying one of the four soul tubes, weakening Gruntijackal. Realizing this, the four continue to fire onto the soul tubes. Despite Richtofen and Xarcoh's best efforts to stop them, the four are successful in destroying the tubes, diminishing Gruntijackal's power over the Aether. Despite this, Gruntijackal remained in the MPD and in Samantha's body due to the Omega Key, which was now stuck into the interface of the MPD. Higgins soon notices the metal canopy to the outside above the MPD and how the MPD was barely attached to the ground after all that fighting. Higgins then proceeds to shoot the control panel for the canopy and shoots the chain holding the MPD. This causes the vacuum of space to enter the room, pulling the MPD off its supports and sending it hurdling into space. This causes the MPD to close and lockdown, ultimately trapping Gruntijackal in Samantha's powerless body and leaving him lost in space. As the others desperately hold on, Jacob is able to reach the Soul Jar before it is sucked away, which he uses to capture Richtofen and Xarcoh. Jacob then proceeds to throw the Soul Jar into the open canopy, causing the Soul Jar to be lost in space as well. As the vacuum begins to die down, the four are able to escape the room with the Yin Blade. With Gruntijackal, Richtofen, and Xarcoh defeated, the four decide that the Yin Blade cannot remain, ultimately shattering the ancient weapon into pieces and causing its remains to float away into the depths of space. This proves, however, to be a foolish mistake, as the darkness of space soon began to warp and become distorted, revealing that the legend of the Yin Blade's powers was true. Characters * Andre Wright (cloned version) * Poindexter Zittermann (cloned version) * Sally Simpson (cloned version) * Aaron "A.J." Jordaniels (cloned version) * Jacob Roberts * Daniela Knight * Patrick West * Samuel Higgins * Xarcoh ("The Unknown", M.I.A.) * Edward Richtofen (M.I.A.) * Samantha Maxis (body dormant, later possessed by Gruntijackal, M.I.A.) * Gruntijackal (M.I.A.) * Willard Wyler (K.I.A.) * Ludvig Maxis (mentioned only) * Hiru Masaki (mentioned only) * "Roach" (mentioned only) * O'Ryan (mentioned only) * Chris (mentioned only) * TJ (mentioned only) Maps The Beginning of the End.jpg|1. The Beginning of the End Lifelink.jpg|2. Lifelink The Omega Key.png|3. The Omega Key Shaded Truths.jpg|4. Shaded Truths The Rebirth.jpg|5. The Rebirth Weapons The weapons that are available in this saga are most of the weapons from Call of Duty: Black Ops III. All of the DLC weapons (excluding melee weapons) can be obtained in the maps as well, such as the LV8 Basilisk and the DIY 11 Renovator. The Volk Mk II would later be added as part of an update. A new tactical grenade, the Tiger Widow Venom, is also introduced. Assault Rifles *KN-44 *XR-2 *HVK-30 *ICR-1 *Man-O-War *Sheiva *M8A7 *MX Garand *FFAR *Peacekeeper MK2 *LV8 Basilisk *M16 *Galil *KVK 99m *STG-44 *Volk Mk II Submachine Guns *Kuda *VMP *Weevil *Vesper *Pharo *Razorback *HG 40 *DIY 11 Renovator *HLX 4 *PPSh-41 *AK-74u *XMC *Bootlegger *M1927 *MP40 Light Machine Guns *BRM *Dingo *Gorgon *R70 Ajax *MG-08/15 Shotguns *KRM-262 *205 Brecci *Haymaker 12 *Argus *Banshii *Olympia Sniper Rifles *Drakon *Locus *P0-6 *SVG-100 *RSA Interdiction *DBSR-50 *XPR-50 Pistols *MR6 *RK5 *L-CAR9 *Marshal 16 *Rift E9 *1911 *Bloodhound *Mauser C96 Launchers *XM-53 *L4 Siege *MAX-GL Special Weapons *NX ShadowClaw *D13 Sector *Ballistic Knife Wonder Weapons * Ray Gun * Monkey Bombs * Tiger Widow Venom Trivia * The disasterous consequences mentioned by Gruntijackal in Day of the Departed for destroying the Yin Blade ultimately begins after the events of The Rebirth. * Gruntijackal becomes physical again, ultimately possessing Samantha Maxis' body in the MPD as a way of gaining full control over the Aether's powers. ** While in Samantha's body, he would alter her slightly to his appeal; her body aged slightly by a few years, her hair became a light blue color, and her entire body emits a white-bluish glow. Her eyes also glow with a bright light blue color as well. ** Because of him possessing Samantha's body, he ultimately gains the role of Demonic Announcer and takes control of the zombies in this map. Category:Rebirth of Gruntijackal